Food bank braces for job losses

By SHANNA SISSOM | Herald Managing Editor

Published 1:50 pm, Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Photo: Shanna Sissom/Plainview Herald

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Brothers Travis Heinen, 16 and Joshua Heinen, 14, volunteer at the Faith in Sharing House food bank. Both boys, who are home-schooled, said they, too, are concerned about so many losing their jobs in wake of Cargill’s closure. The plant becomes idle Friday. less

Brothers Travis Heinen, 16 and Joshua Heinen, 14, volunteer at the Faith in Sharing House food bank. Both boys, who are home-schooled, said they, too, are concerned about so many losing their jobs in wake of ... more

Photo: Shanna Sissom/Plainview Herald

Food bank braces for job losses

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With more than 2,200 workers losing jobs at the local Cargill beef packing plant on Friday, Faith in Sharing House is among those bracing for the months ahead.

Already, between 1,400 to 1,500 people get monthly assistance from the food bank, with the busiest days at the end of the month when food stamps are often depleted.

But now, the number of those needing food is expected to increase in wake of Cargill’s closure, effective Friday, Feb. 1.

How many more people will need food assistance?

“I wouldn’t want to guess, or wager,” said Ron Warren, president FISH board. “It’s our hope and desire, that these people will be able to find jobs.”

But, like so many others before him have said of the unprecedented loss of local employment, the impact is yet to be realized.

“We feel like there is an uncertainty of what we might need,” Warren explained. “We know there will be severance and benefits, so we need not to be prepared for Monday, but for the months to come.”

Just more than $1,200 was raised for the food bank at a community-wide prayer rally held earlier this week in response to Cargill layoffs. An Estacado Junior High class is expected to donate part of a grant to the food bank today, and Warren said other community groups are becoming aware of anticipated higher need.

Even before the city’s largest employer announced its upcoming closure, the sluggish economy has meant higher numbers of those needing food.

“Every month there is an increase in the number of people we’re seeing at end of month when food stamps run out,” said FISH board Secretary Beverly Wall. “We really have not been hit really hard with (Cargill) people coming in yet, but we do expect it to happen and we’re expecting the worst of it to start in March.”

With so many displaced people, Cargill competitors and other employers have been in Plainview recruiting workers to other cities and states. A job fair takes place Monday at the Ollie Liner Center, and another one took place at the Plain view Country Club last week.

But the volume of so many jobs lost per capita has the community bracing for the absence of an estimated $80 million annually in Cargill paychecks. Schools also stand to lose major funding — estimated at as much as $5.3 million — if classroom populations drop as expected with families relocating for jobs. Retail sales have already seen a decline locally, some merchants have reported,

But when it comes to basic needs like food for those who stay, Warren believes the community will come together to help out its own.

“We’re trying to make community aware about the need,” Warren said. “Plainview has always been good about coming forward to help, and I don’t think it will be any different on this.”